Could you introduce yourself? 

 

My name is Lisanne Lammers. I was born in a little village in the county Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands in 1970. Even as a child I liked to draw, paint and other creative activities. 

At the age of 18 I wanted to work more with clay to make 3 dimensional work. I bought my own throwing wheel and a very old kiln. In the garage of my parents I spent my free time to become a self-taught potter. 

Not until I I was 25 I decided I really wanted to learn more art-skills. I studied Sculpturing at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. 

Nowadays I have found my own style, and that is a combination of Pottery, Sculpturing, mixed media.... 

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We are particularly interested in “Optical/Monochrome art (pushpin works and thread series).” Could you tell us more in detail, in terms of your expressing (materials, arrangement, colors, shapes etc) and your stating (what you represent, perspectives, narratives, emotions etc)?

 

The pushpin works are like the works of the artist Jan Schoonhoven. (Dutch ‘Nul’-group). Esthetic, pure, basic. Repetition in forms and monochrome color. By using the industrial, emotionless shape of the pushpins the attention is at the optical effect and not at first at the material. 

In  The thread-serie composition and color was more essential. Creating geometric forms with the threads and their shadow . But by using vertical placed foam, to create a difference in heights, the composition of these lines were of influence in the composition. Sharp contrasting colors (white and yellow, and red and white) in combination with the black emphasized the composition. 

The spaces between the lines (as it narrows) I sometimes used to bring perspective in the work. As standing on a street  between high buildings in the city. These works are like a combination of painting and architecture. 

(As in the Constructivisme, as example the artist Kandinsky, Lisitzky) 

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We are impressed by the patterns with nature (light and shadows) of your works in terms of Op Art. Where does the process of creating patterns begin for you?

 

Creating patterns starts for me pure intuitively. One pattern lead to an other by working on the first one. Just thinking ‘what if I place them next time.... 

Searching for a composition, a ritme and harmony. Light is essential for increasing the effect of this ritme. Especially in the Pushpin works, where the focus is on the ritme instead of any geometric forms. 

 

 

Regarding the thread series, it reminds us of architectural structures and line drawing. Does it relate to architecture? Or did you get any inspiration from architecture?

 

I like this question. This because architecture has always been a part of my life with a father who is an architect. However, the appreciation and real interest in architecture came when I was a lot older. Especially I like the modern buildings, as example the architect Santiago Calatrava. The perspective lines and straight forms, used in architecture, I also used in the Thread-serie. 

So, maybe you can say 'it runs in the family....' 

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What inspired/motivated your artwork?

 

Before I started to create the push-pin – works and the thread-series I created a monochrome ceramic work (raku-fired pieces of clay that I places in a square, as a painting on the wall. 

That inspired me to create some other monochrome works in other materials. With raku-firing you receive a beautiful white, craquelé glaze in contrast wih the black color where the smoke burns in the clay. That black and white combination I tried to create by the effect of the shadow in using white threads on white foam board. This effect of the shadow inspired me to use other materials. The intention was to work on monochromes, but with the use of thread and pushpins the optical effect was so perfect, that I concentrated on the effect of light and patterns. Geometric and natural patterns, like waves. 

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Would you like to introduce any other work? According to your website, you mainly work with ceramics and styled sculptures. Could you talk about them?

 

Working with Ceramics is a very satisfying process. It is like meditation :you need concentration and you need to be patient. Preparing the clay, the making process, drying, firing, glazing, firing again. 

There are so many different techniques and possibilities of how to use this material. 

Sometimes I still use the throwing wheel to create round forms. But for my sculptural ceramics I use ‘plates’ and I built my constructions. 

These geometric ceramic sculptures are technical structures. Trying to create an interesting 3-dimensional sculpture. 

The challenge lays also in the making of such a complex and  open structure with a material as difficult as clay. 

 

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Do you have any artist who inspires or influences your art?

 

There are many artists and styles that inspired me. 

Kubisme, Constructivisme, Impressionisme, the Zero movement, etc. 

Sculptors like Rodin, Giacometti, Brancusi. The paintors Vincent van Gogh, Matisse, Mondriaan. 

The works of Henry Moore, Mark Rothko, Kandinsky, Lissitsky, Pollock, Picasso. And the monochromes of Jan Schoonhoven. 

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